How To Get (and Not Get) Your Windows 2000 Certification

It’s been a more than a year since Microsoft
introduced the Windows 2000 operating system and,
in that time, MCPs have been quick to become trained
and certified on the new software. In the first
eight months that the Win2K exams have been available,
MCPs of all types have moved to become certified
at a rate nearly four times as fast as they moved
to become certified on Windows NT Server 4.0.

Most—nearly two-thirds of our newly minted Win2K
MCPs—are upgrading from certifications on NT Server
4.0. That’s to be expected. What’s perhaps less
expected—and very significant for the long term—is
that just more than a third of our Win2K MCPs
have no previous Windows certifications. They’re
technology professionals with experience in Novell,
Unix and other operating systems—and now they’re
moving to Windows.

Their interest in Windows certification verifies
the results we’ve seen from independent research
organizations, including IDC and Gartner Group.
IDC concluded that, for companies with 13 or more
servers, the ROI in Windows certification is just
four months. Outsourcing in companies with certified
personnel can be cut by 20 percent, with the internal
staff handling 43 percent more support requests
than prior to certification. Server downtime also
drops significantly, saving these companies $2,530
per server per year. Similarly, GartnerGroup confirmed
that certification is not only a way for corporations
to increase the skill sets of their IT personnel,
it’s also a way for those companies to motivate
and retain IT personnel. According to Gartner,
91 percent of individuals acquiring certification
are as likely or more likely to stay with their
current employers.

Design skills are critical in a Win2K network.
To that end Microsoft has included those skills
as a core part of the Win2K MCSE certification.
These skills weren’t part of the previous NT 4.0
certification. The new certification includes
four core exams and one design exam, plus two
electives. The new tests include case studies
and scenarios that assess total knowledge and
hands-on experience, not just the ability to memorize
facts. While some candidates may be reluctant
to face these new exams, we know that those who
possess the skills with the product will succeed.

Some of you may be concerned about the new exams.
But I want to point out that the candidates who
have the appropriate qualifications to take them
tend to pass the new exams at a rate similar to
the NT 4.0-identified target audience for the
NT 4.0 core exams. This shows that while the questions
are more appropriate tests of the skill sets needed
in Win2K environments, they’re not—as a whole—more
difficult than questions on older exams. We made
these changes in response to MCP requests to ensure
the continued value of the MCP credential. But
we recognize that change can breed apprehension.

The Track To Follow Meanwhile, the clock is ticking on Windows
NT Server 4.0 certifications, which cease to be
valid at the end of this calendar year. So what
should you do if you’re certified on NT Server
4.0? How should you go about doing it, and how
is Microsoft working to make the transition easier
for you?

To answer the last question first, we’ve taken
some major steps that MCPs tell us take much of
the sting out of the time and trouble of getting
re-certified for Win2K. Chief among them, we’ve
consolidated the four core, required exams for
Win2K certification into a single, “accelerated
exam” 70-240: Microsoft Windows 2000 Accelerated
Exam for MCPs Certified on Microsoft Windows NT
4.0.

When you pass this exam, you get credit for having
passed four core exams in the MCSE track. And
to help mitigate the trouble of taking the exam,
we’ve made the exam free of charge through the
end of this year for any candidates who have passed
the three Windows NT 4.0 exams.

Taking and passing the Accelerated Exam—as well
as the elective exams also required for MCSE certification—is
only the culmination of your preparation. In addition
to your invaluable hands-on experience, we’ve
developed a companion, accelerated course, 1560:
Upgrading Your Support Skills from Windows NT
4.0 to Windows 2000. This course exposes candidates
to the objectives covered in the four core Win2K
exams. And you have options in how you take this
training. Course 1560 is available as an instructor-led
Microsoft Official Curriculum (MOC) course. The
class runs five days. It’s also available as an
online-facilitated course, in which content and
services are facilitated by online contact with
a mentor, helpdesk support, instructor or facilitator.
The complete Win2K instructor-led training offered
through Microsoft Certified Technical Education
Centers (CTECs) consists of 55 days of training
for a variety of audiences, including developers,
architects/designers, support professionals, and
network administrators. These courses may be modularized
and customized according to need.

For those who prefer self-paced content, the
courseware is also available online, and in books
and CDs from Microsoft Press. Additional materials
from TechNet and MSDN can augment your self-study
preparation.

Once a candidate decides to prepare for the exams,
he or she should download the preparation guide
from the MCP Web site. The preparation guide to
the Accelerated Exam is available at www.microsoft.com/
trainingandservices/exams/examasearch.asp?PageID=70-240.
Also online, you’ll find links to a wealth of
preparation tools, including information about
practice tests. The practice tests, developed
by third-party MCP practice test providers, can
help you assess your skill level. Your score on
a practice test won’t necessarily indicate your
score on the certification exam, but it’ll give
you the opportunity to assess your knowledge and
readiness.

Personal Trainer Which form of training is best for you?
Instructor-led courses provide the most concentrated
learning experiences and the most intensive involvement
with a Microsoft Certified Trainer. They’re offered
by Microsoft CTECs and other Microsoft-authorized
training centers, such as Authorized Academic
Training Programs (AATPs), around the world. But
instructor-led courses also require the greatest
direct commitment of time and money. If your schedule,
resources or inclination don’t lend themselves
to instructor-led courses, consider an online
facilitated course or self-paced teaching materials.
Self-paced products offer you the greatest flexibility
to work training into your existing schedule—and
do so in a highly cost-effective way.

There’s another training option that some people
choose, but I don’t always recommend it: the accelerated
or condensed training. These programs promise
to teach you everything you need to know about
Win2K in just a few days. They’re like the “all-nighters”
that many of us endured in college on the night
before a big exam. Whether or not we passed the
exam, we forgot most of what we’d memorized within
days. And many people who take this training tell
us they have the same experience.

Hands-on experience with Win2K technology is
a prerequisite for being able to answer the questions
on these exams—and no amount of “cramming” can
give you that experience. Moreover, because these
forms of training aren’t certified, you have no
independent confirmation of the quality of the
experience they offer. If you already have in-depth
Win2K knowledge and experience, and you’re willing
to take the risk, accelerated training may be
helpful. But why take the risk when you don’t
need to?

Just because your NT 4.0 certifications becomes
invalid after the end of the year, that doesn’t
mean your knowledge becomes invalid or without
value. Many enterprise infrastructures continue
to host NT 4.0 servers and have reasons to continue
to host those servers for the foreseeable future.
So they need MCPs who are knowledgeable about
NT 4.0—but whose knowledge and expertise are updated
for the world of Win2K. Today, the issues aren’t
how to plan for and implement NT 4.0, as much
as they are how to facilitate co-existence between
the two flavors of Windows.

That means that for us at Microsoft, the issue
is how to help you demonstrate to your colleagues
and clients that you have this expertise. Our
solution is a new exam—Exam 70-244: Supporting
and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows NT Server
4.0 Network—that tests your understanding of NT
4.0 in the year 2001. It’s an elective in the
MCSE track for Win2K. MCPs who have current enterprise
experience with NT 4.0 should be well prepared
for this exam, thus extending the value of and
return on their NT 4.0 expertise.